Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-07-08


The journalist felt glow of compacent
pleasure In truth he was in the habit of
priding himself to some extent on his
faculty of placing himself imaginatively
in n foreign position and thence reason
ing out motives and probabilsties-afte
the manner of Edgar Allen Pee in his
Mystery of Marie Roget" He had
thought good deal about the Manhattan
robbery, and had arrived at certain con
illusions which he fancied might have
some Importance.
"Well, inspector" he said with modest
wave of his hand, everybody has his
theory, and all theories are equally good
or bad until the right one is hit upon.
make no pretensions but have my ideas
of course Now, for instance, | don't
know whether it has occurred to you
that this crime may not have been in all
respects professional job Y
"That is an interesting idea" the in
spector replied with an engaging air of
attention. "How did you arrive at it ?"
"By reasoning simply-asssted, per
haps, by little observation here and
there. Mind you, | abstain strictly from
any personal applications. have no par
ticular individual in my mind But 1t is
at least conceivable-is it not that per
deficient on the moral side-that reputa-
ton for virtue should not always involve
the possession of it,"
Now that you mention it, can see that
such might be the case" replied the IN
spector quietly.
that such person may exist, and even
abide within the confines of this NUM-
cipality, let us go a step further and imag-
inc that for some cause or other he finds
his expenses are becoming larger
than his receipts. 1t would then be nat
ural for him to desire to reverse the stua.
ton nd make the receipts exceed the eX-
penditures Am | right so far ?"
Completely so, it seems to me-" an
swered the detective, cordially.
This hypothetical person, deficient as
we have assumed, on the moral side, and
also in his cash balance, casts about him
for a means of repairing his losses, The
ordinary operations of business Of he en-
gagged in business) are too slow or too I'M
certain for his needs But there are other
means open to. him. Wealth is lying
around HIM on every side; he lives and
works in the midst of millions; many of
his personal acquaintance, who regard
him with unlimited confidence, are men
rich beyond the dreams of avarice. There
is money enough, IN short, if only one has
Il mind to Law his bands upon it.
you state the fact very clearly. Well
then ?''
well, then, let US suppose that he de
cides to recoup himself IN this unconven-
tional but effective way. The next ques-
ton is what means to adopt to his end.
No doubt he might do it by simple and
direct robbery. He might alter a check,
or pocket a dozen bonds out of his friends
desk, or avail himself in a score of ways
of his privileges as an associate upon
equal terms with gentlemen. But all
these crude ways are open to objection.
The chances are, that sooner or later he
will be found out. But the money would
be of no use to him unless his social re
pute remained unimpaired, and therefore
it is Indispensable to him to secure that
repute against any risk. Consequently he
| must adopt more secret methods"
ITO be sure he must. | see that plain
Now" continued the journalist, eX
panding more and more under the in
tuence of this genial encouragement,
you don't need me to tell you that there
is a complete class of the community who
| have no social position, but who exist by
and for robbery. These people have made
Il study of all the methods of crime and
are as expert IN their buauess Us the
! trained bank clerk or pry goods mer-
chant is III his. But to offset their eX-
pertness they are subject to one great
| draWbHck-they are nearly always known
as criminals to the police, and, what is
almost as bad, to one another. II they
could only combine their professional
| knowledge and clevernesS with the good
name of such an individual as this imag-
| mary friend of ours their opportunities of
! success would lie Increased tenfold Why,
therefore, should not our friend conduct
| his operations through these gentry as
! Intermediates :"
That would he most ingenious scheme,
would it not - murmured the inspector
with an air of admlring appreciation.
But would there not be some risk of
their giving him away or even blackmail-
ing him -
Il am coming to that" returned the
journalist with "a triumphant smile. "Our
| friend would wish to so arrange matters
that he should not appear in the matter
at all-or at any rate to not more than
one person. And who should that person
be He must be Il man accustomed to
keep secrets, Ill the first place. Secondly,
he must maintain Il certain kind of rela-
tons with the criminal classes. Thirdly,
lie must also have dealings if possible, of
a legitimate business kind, with people
of wealth and fashion. Given an inter
mediary of this stamp and proper precau-
tons on our friends side, and roDberies
might be successfully accomplished which
would otherwise be impossible. He would
supply them (through the intermediary
with inside information, and they, III
turn, would supply him with an adequate
share of the booty"
81 understand. And have you got your
eye on any such Intermediary :"
"Iou know that diamond dealer, Grady
who keeps shop up stairs on the north
west corner Of Bleecker street aud Broad
way :"
Yes, know there is such place
"Well, | shouldn't be surprised il
Grady knew something about this rob
berry"
Indeed ~ murmured the inspector.
What gives you that idea ?"
well, if were such a person as we
have imagined, and wanted to crack the
Manhattan bank, the first thing | should
have done would have been to have an
understanding with Grady From his
window and shop you can see everything
that is going on in the bank Offices. And
Grady looks to me the sort of man likely
to be fence He's diamond dealer
and sells good stones at a wonderfully
reasonable price and he lives in room
at the back of that queer little shop"
The inspector leaned back in his chair
and regarded his visitor with an ambigu-
GUS smile.
,."Well," he said, ''you have offered a